Ann Mulcahy, Xerox Case Study
Case 1
MGMT 6150
Anne Mulcahy, Xerox CEO
Fall 2013
Prepared by: H.
Prepared for: Dr. Margaret M. Hopkins
09/10/2013
Fiedler's Contingency Model:
The Contingency Model that was developed by Fiedler's and his associates was aimed to link the leadership style with the situation and circumstances surrounding each leader. (The Leadership
Experience. p.68). Now will try to assess the leadership style of Anne Mulcahy to test the extent to which she was a relationship-oriented leader or a task-oriented leader. One of the first things she talked about on the short movie that we watched in class was that a lot of her time in the first few months "was spent listening" to employees and customers which shows how much she cared about them and their needs. In page 3 of the article written by Betsy Morris, she clearly says that
"nothing spooked" her as much as thinking about the 96,000 people who worked for Xerox "if this thing went south". In addition to passionately listening to her customers and employees, she was very humble asking for any kind of help from employees or investors. This is probably driven by her desire to keep Xerox alive for the people regardless to endless calls from financial advisors to file bankruptcy. Anne once asked if anyone in the company could teach here Balance
Sheet 101, so she could relate her decisions to how the balance sheet would be effected. This was not the first time she asked for help, which in my opinion, was unusual but very encouraging to other employees to seek help whenever needed. She also personally met with top executives and was open with them to discuss every detail about the company and encouraged their involvements in the decisions. All of these and other evidences show the extent to which she was a relationship-oriented leader. On the other hand, she was also focusing on setting clear financial growth goals for the company even of the decisions made would harm some individuals. In other
words,
MGMT 6150
Anne Mulcahy, Xerox CEO
Fall 2013
Prepared by: H.
Prepared for: Dr. Margaret M. Hopkins
09/10/2013
Fiedler's Contingency Model:
The Contingency Model that was developed by Fiedler's and his associates was aimed to link the leadership style with the situation and circumstances surrounding each leader. (The Leadership
Experience. p.68). Now will try to assess the leadership style of Anne Mulcahy to test the extent to which she was a relationship-oriented leader or a task-oriented leader. One of the first things she talked about on the short movie that we watched in class was that a lot of her time in the first few months "was spent listening" to employees and customers which shows how much she cared about them and their needs. In page 3 of the article written by Betsy Morris, she clearly says that
"nothing spooked" her as much as thinking about the 96,000 people who worked for Xerox "if this thing went south". In addition to passionately listening to her customers and employees, she was very humble asking for any kind of help from employees or investors. This is probably driven by her desire to keep Xerox alive for the people regardless to endless calls from financial advisors to file bankruptcy. Anne once asked if anyone in the company could teach here Balance
Sheet 101, so she could relate her decisions to how the balance sheet would be effected. This was not the first time she asked for help, which in my opinion, was unusual but very encouraging to other employees to seek help whenever needed. She also personally met with top executives and was open with them to discuss every detail about the company and encouraged their involvements in the decisions. All of these and other evidences show the extent to which she was a relationship-oriented leader. On the other hand, she was also focusing on setting clear financial growth goals for the company even of the decisions made would harm some individuals. In other
words,